


Don't Let the Bells End

by TheKorpswomanOfKrieg



Series: Harry's Lunaverse [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-12-22 18:56:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21081488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKorpswomanOfKrieg/pseuds/TheKorpswomanOfKrieg
Summary: Christmas has come, and as her first with Harry, Luna feels a mix of excitement, customary Christmas warmth and some anxiety about how everything will pan out. But with Harry keeping a certain surprise under wraps, how much of that will matter? Midquel to my fic Satisfied Mind! C C loved and appreciated!





	1. December 21st - The Burrow Christmas Party

There were a multitude of terms to describe herself that Luna would use right now: agitated, nervous, high-strung, anxious. At the moment, she was favouring a term that Ron Weasley had taught her during a night of drinking with friends, a good few months ago.

At this moment in time, and in the words of her boyfriend's best friend, Luna Lovegood was shitting herself.

The last time Ron and Hermione had been round to see her and Harry was when the shitting of the self started occurring. It was all nice at first, normal things occurred; a bit of drinking, watching horror films that everyone but Hermione (though she enjoyed how tightly she'd end up hugging Ron during) enjoyed, debates about the best Metallica album (that Hermione decidedly did NOT enjoy). It was all going swimmingly until Ron had asked the immortal, immutable question.

"_I thought I'd ask, since you're basically family now Luna. __Mum hosts a party every year on the 21__st__, and as well as Harry, she's asked me to invite you. Your dad is welcome as well, but she understands if he wants to stay at home. No pressure, but she'd really love to see you __and Harry __there."_

Parties. Weasley parties. Weasley, Granger, Delacour, Potter and Tonks parties. She remembered concerts and parties back in Bristol being great, but she was also with friends and for more than a few occasions being rather intoxicated in order to let her hair down. As well as that, she'd never been to a proper, family Christmas party before. The closest she got was having Christmas dinner with Xenophilius and then reading until bed-time. "Party hard..." She mumbled to herself as she remembered fondly.

She gave herself the once-over in her mirror, for possibly the nineteenth time in 5 minutes. She wanted to look somewhat nicer than normal on top of the normal braided ponytail, old band shirt and trainers, so she unearthed an old pinafore dress from her Bristol days and opted for tights instead of baggy jeans. A bit more 'adult' she thought.

"Sweets… are you alright?"

Luna looked from her mirror to the doorway and smiled when she saw Harry. "Aye… just… ugh, a bit nervous. Wrackspurts, you know." Clad in a black long-sleeve shirt – "I love when he rolls the sleeves up..." she thought to herself – and jeans himself, not much changed from his normal get up. Well, aside from his ponytail having to be neater than usual in fear of an ear-bashing from Molly.

"I thought Wrackspurts were all about forgetfulness and confusion, not outright anxiety?" Harry sat down next to her on the bed and put his hand on her leg, giving a short, comforting squeeze. "And anyway… what's got you all nervous?"

Luna sighed and laid her head on Harry's shoulder, linking her hand with his. "Nervous about tonight. Well… I say tonight… we're due there in twenty minutes but saying 'nervous for twenty minutes time' doesn't quite roll off the tongue or make much sense in the way of grammar."

"Ah… I get what you mean. Anything in particular?" He kissed the top of her head and ran his thumb over her hand affectionately. "Or is it just general 'Oh no, shitloads of people' anxiety?"

"Mostly the latter, if I'm perfectly honest. About twenty people in the house… all very loud and boisterous and… admittedly friendly, but loud and boisterous nonetheless."

"I know you're nervous sweets. I don't blame you for it at all. But you know… mostly everyone who's going to be there. Hell, Molly herself wants you there. I've had a few letters back and forth with her and I think she'll bloody love you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. She can't wait to see you."

Luna beamed, and she wrapped her arms around Harry's neck to pull him in for a hug. "That's lovely… Though I still feel like people will be funny around me."

"Look… if anyone is funny towards you, either come get me or go and tell Molly. They'll have to deal with her 'right hook of doom'."

They had a small fit of giggles together before Luna stood up in front of Harry expectantly. "All the anxiety aside… how do I look? I thought I'd follow Ginny's lead and try a bit of make-up for the occasion but I didn't want to do too much so I thought just some mascara-"

Harry smirked and interrupted. "You think I'm going to do anything other than tell the truth?"

"Which is?"

"That you look lovely?"

Luna blushed and turned away, mumbling a "thankyouandyoulooklovelyaswell"

Harry grinned and got up to give her a peck on the lips. "Thanks sweets. Let's get a move on, Molly will have started the third batch of food by now, she doesn't ask anyone else to help her after that."

* * *

With a soft _pop_, Luna and Harry found themselves outside on a dirt path, a certain house full to the brim with members of a certain red-headed family in the distance. The sounds of merriment carried easily despite being a breeze-less night, a testament to how loud the Weasleys could be. The chill of the early evening and the warmth of the Burrow in front of her did nothing to dissuade her nerves though, and she let out a short "Eep!" before stopping in her tracks.

"Sweets? You alright?"

Luna simply stood still, and nodded towards the house. "That's a lot of people in there Harry. It's… well, I'm relatively calm on the outside but inside I can assure you I'm screaming."

Harry took her hand and gave it a soft squeeze, cupping her face with his free hand. "It's alright Luna. You've met most of them before. They all love you, and if they don't they'll deal with Molly and I. Okay?"

Luna sighed and gave Harry a short peck on the lips. "Alright. Alright, let's head down."

They walked slowly towards the house as the chill of the night grew lesser, the warmth exuding from the Burrow reaching them in no short order. Harry started grinning as they got closer, and it spread to Luna as well, finding herself already mirthful.

"Out of interest Luna, and forgive me for throwing out a theory… this is like… you meeting MY family, isn't it?"

Luna looked up at Harry for a second then took a bit to think. "But… well, I sort of met your mum and dad. I mean, it was their headstones, but-"

"No, no… I mean, Molly and Arthur. I've told you how much the Weasleys love the bones of me. And I've met your dad; he loves me to death. You're nervous because… well, again, forgive me for throwing out the theory, but I get the sense that you see this as YOUR 'Meet the Parents' moment. Am I wrong?"

Luna smirked and nudged him softly in the side, causing him to chuckle quietly.

"I'll take that as a yes then. I don't think you've got to worry though. Like I said at home, Molly can't wait."

They didn't have to walk much closer before the door opened and a short, dumpy red-headed woman moved with unnatural speed to wrap Harry in a hug; if Luna hadn't seen her before, she'd have guessed she were a ginger cannonball.

"Harry! Oh my word! I haven't seen you for months!" Molly cried out as she squeezed him hard, lifting him up off the ground and making Luna grin so wide it started to ache. "Oh, you've gained weight at last! I kept telling you you should use the Ministry gym more!" Luna started to grin even more when Molly's expression turned stormy, and giggled as Molly started to thump him on the arm.

"You absolute pain in the arse Harry Potter! All those weeks at the start of the year with no bloody contact! I sent you at LEAST a dozen letters, nearly sent a howler and was going to apparate in to Grimmauld Place myself if it wasn't for Kingsley!" She turned to Luna and gave her a warm smile as her tone softened. "Lovely to see you Luna dear, Harry's sung your praises in every letter he's sent me so far. Ooh, he mentioned you were vegetarian so I made you a quiche. Is tomato and basil alright?"

Luna nodded in stunned and amused thanks, watching with even more amusement as Molly thumped Harry harder, throwing in some comments about "that bloody hair" and "you have as much consideration as Ronald when he's hungry!" - that last one causing Luna to start giggling as she followed them inside. Harry was right about her worries regarding Molly… they were definitely unneeded. Luna could already tell she was more than welcome.

* * *

Harry took a moment to step outside with his pint, breathing in the crisp, chill night air. He loved these Christmas parties, but if he said that they didn't tire him out quickly, he'd be lying. Animated discussions with Ron and Ginny about Quidditch, good-natured but undoubtedly irritating questions from Arthur about Muggle items and occasionally being forced by Molly to taste some food. He needed air.

He'd been out there for a minute or two when George stepped out, a cigarette already in the process of being lit. "Sorry to interrupt the private time matey, mind if I join you?"

"Nah…" Harry mumbled, looking off into the distance. "Nah, not at all."

"Excellent." George took a short puff on the cigarette and breathed it out through his nose. "How are you, you mopey little sod? Or, not so mopey any more, from what I hear on the grapevine? Courtesy of a certain blonde oddball?"

Harry grinned and nursed his drink before replying. "Yeah, I'm doing pretty good. A good chunk of it thanks to that 'certain blonde oddball', funnily enough. How are you getting on? Angelina's fit to burst soon!"

"Yeah… Roxanne's due in January. Little Freddie is… really excited. I thought he was gonna be a bit of a little fucker and get all jealous. But, no, he can't wait to be a big brother."

Harry and George shared a smile, looking up into the sky as they respectively drank and puffed on the cigarette. It was George who broke the silence after a while, a slight lump in his throat.

"It's around this time of year that I really miss him, you know."

Harry didn't need to ask who it was, and his smile became slightly sadder. "Yeah. Yeah, I can empathise with that. I still think about Sirius, and Remus… I know it's not quite the same as losing your twin though."

George shook his head and flicked his cigarette into the bin, immediately grabbing another one from his jacket pocket and lightning up. "Loss is loss mate. It's relative. Fred would have been the first to tell you that. He was always the more philosophical out of the pair of us. Well… the first to get philosophical after a few dozen drinks, I can say that much." George sighed and sat down next to Harry on the bench. "I think he'd have loved Luna as well."

Harry turned to George. "You think so?" He grinned as George nodded in affirmation, and continued talking. "She was really panicky tonight, actually. Before we left, and actually as we were walking up the path here, she was quite worried that no one would like her, or really want her there."

"Mate, we fucking love her. She's got nothing to worry about at all. I think Fleur and Bill were the most surprised though. Did you see how Fleur lit up when Luna started speaking French? Did you even KNOW she spoke French?"

"I knew that she spoke Swedish and Irish Gaelic… but the French came totally out of left field. She doesn't big herself up much, however much she aught to. Last I saw before I came out here, she was talking to Charlie about Romania and the dragon sanctuary. She fits right in."

"You really are one soppy fucker, aren't you Harry?" George chuckled, accepting the dead arm from Harry with a wince through the laughing. "Nah… she's wicked. I was gonna ask but I already know the answer… she's the one for you, isn't she?"

Harry nodded and finished his drink, resting the glass on the arm of the bench. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so. She's… oh, I can't really put it in words. That's a good sign, isn't it? I mean, you're married for fuck's sake. You'd know."

"Oh yeah. Actual, proper love isn't really something you put into words. I know you loved Ginny, but… you two came to a natural end. That happens, that's life. You're both adults and you were amicable about it, that's a lot better than some people. I can tell, just LOOKING at how you and Luna look at each other, that you two are… a good fit, so to speak. When are you popping the question?"

Harry panicked for a second. How did George know? He'd only told Hermione, and she was as likely to blab as Ron was to put down the food for a minute. "Who told you?"

"You did mate. Just this second."

"...I should hex you right now."

* * *

Luna sat down at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in her hands, feeling a tiny bit of unease. She'd definitely felt unsettled at the start of the evening, but when she'd been greeted so warmly, accepted so nicely by the rest of the Weasleys, she'd felt that unease start to melt.

So why was it that right now, was Luna shitting herself again? Luna had been busy talking to Charlie about the dragons in Romania when she'd been tapped on the shoulder by Molly, who wanted "A little talk in private." In Luna's mind, one of Ron's other favourite phrases kept repeating itself: "Oh bollocks."

As Molly closed the kitchen door, Luna took a sip of tea, and gave Molly a nervous smile as she sat down. Was she going to get put on blast? Was she going to be treated as 'not being good enough'? Luna nearly shook with subtle terror. So when Molly first started speaking, Luna was surprised, relieved and expertly calmed in a single sentence: "How are you?"

"Oh… Oh, I'm doing alright, thank you Molly. Daddy told me to say sorry that he couldn't come this year. He's finishing the Christmas edition of the Quibbler."

"Oh, that's fine dear. I like to invite him anyway, let him know that he's welcome at any time, and all that. Now… I just wanted a chat about Harry and you." Luna's breath caught in her mouth, prompting a visible giggle from Molly. "No no dear, it's nothing to worry about, nothing to worry about at all."

Luna nodded, but still kept a nervous air about her, holding on to her mug of tea as if it were an anchor.

"Hold on dear… before I ask further… are you okay? You seem a little bit agitated, like you were when you arrived. What's wrong?"

Luna scratched the back of her neck and looked away for a second, before replying. "Um… oh my… c-can I just be completely candid with you Molly?" Molly nodded and took a sip from her own cup of tea. "Alright… I was quite anxious earlier, and I suppose I'm anxious now, because I'm scared shitless – pardon the language – that, I wouldn't be sort of, accepted? Like, none of you would actually like me or think that Harry was better off with Ginny and all that malarkey-"

"Oh Luna dear, that's what was bothering you? Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"I suppose… I'm scared of slipping up. Giving you all a reason to dislike me. Harry thinks that I see it as him bringing me home to meet the parents, and I'm scared of making a bad impression."

Molly smiled warmly. "You've made the farthest thing from a bad impression you could have possibly made my dear. I never knew you to be anything bad at all, even when you were a little girl and your dad would bring you over to play with Ginny. And, it's no secret that Arthur and I treat Harry as if he were one of our own. We are VERY protective of him, as is the rest of the family. But with that protectiveness… comes accepting whoever he chooses to be with. And we knew as soon as we heard that he'd made an excellent choice."

Luna started grinning, uncontrollably, and blushed at how warmly she'd already been received. "Y-you wouldn't prefer that he stayed with Ginny?"

"Luna, I love Ginny dearly but she'll be the first to tell you that she goes through boys – and sometimes girls – like it's no one's business. Yes, we were initially sad that they separated but, they're adults. We're more glad that there's no bad blood at all. Ginny actually told me how much she hoped you two would get together back in May, so it's safe to say you got her seal of approval."

Luna giggled and finished her cup of tea. "Thank you Molly. It means an awful lot."

"Any time dear."

Their conversation was interrupted when Harry knocked on the door and gently pushed it ajar, a sleepy young boy with technicolour hair rubbing their eyes and hugging into Harry's chest, fussing quietly. "Sorry Molly, can I get Teddy a glass of water? Andromeda wants me to tuck Teddy in and read him a bedtime story."

Molly jumped up and _accio_'ed a glass to her hand, filling it with water from the faucet and handing it to Harry. "I'm just going to check on little Freddie and give Angelina a hand. I'll let you get on with Teddy." She gave them all a short wave and headed off.

"What did you and Molly talk about then sweets?" Harry sat down and perched Teddy on his knee, gently handing him the glass. "Drink up matey… be careful though and don't spill it, or else Nana Andie will make you change your pyjamas again."

Luna smiled wider as Harry fussed over Teddy. He was so affectionate, so gentle, so naturally paternal with Teddy. She found herself wondering about their future, all the possibilities that could come; marriage, a quiet ceremony of course, followed by the pitter-patter of maybe half a dozen pairs of feet, the bags under the eyes as well as the crows feet that form in the corner of them when you end up with about five kids – maybe even a set of twins in there – before the age of 26. A bit ambitious maybe, a bit twee and overly saccharine… but isn't that what fantasy was for?

Her daydreaming was curtailed when Harry nudged her with his foot, Teddy's sleepy giggles helping pull her out of it fully. "Ah, you're back on Earth at last. For probably the fifth time… what were you and Molly talking about?"

Luna, suddenly feeling rather bashful, hid behind her fringe and looked away. "Oh… nothing important. Woman things, something you and Teddy wouldn't understand."

Harry gave her a sly smile but didn't press further. "I'll ask a bit later when younger ears aren't present. Teddy, do you want to say goodnight to Luna?"

Teddy nodded, and slid off of Harry's knee to hop up onto Luna's, giving her as tight a hug as a five year old can muster and said with a yawn "Night-night Auntie Luna." Teddy didn't see how much wider Luna's smile grew, but he felt how tightly Luna hugged him back.

Harry leaned down to give Luna a peck on the lips then tucked Teddy back up into his arms. "I'll be back down in about quarter of an hour sweets. See you in a bit."

"See you in a bit sweetheart." Luna watched Harry walk off with Teddy in his arms, and let out a quiet, happy sigh as she got up to make another cup of tea. Approval from the family? Excellent. Approval from a nephew that absolutely idolises your boyfriend? Even better.

* * *

Harry and Luna were the last of the visiting guests at the Burrow, busy having a cup of tea and a small supper with Molly as Arthur cleaned up the mess and went to bed, leaving Molly and the pair in the front room, decompressing from the party.

"Molly, thank you so much again for that quiche. That was feckin' lovely."

"Not a problem dear. I went and got the eggs for it this morning. I almost put bacon in before Arthur stopped me though. Very glad you liked it though."

Harry smirked and squeezed Luna's hand, finishing his cup of tea. "It was lovely tonight Molly. Cheers for hosting. Very kind of you to let Andromeda and Teddy stay for the season as well."

"I think Andie appreciates it as well. She was so thankful that it almost got irritating after a while, but I know it's hard for her and Teddy on their own. Teddy took a liking to you though, didn't he Luna?"

"Oh he's such a sweetheart! How can a five year old boy be so affectionate?! You know he called me Auntie Luna before Harry took him to bed?"

"That's a very good sign, right there. Anyway..." Molly finished her cup of tea and pulled out her wand. "I've got something to give you Luna dear, before you leave." She muttered an _accio_ under her breath, and a package slowly floated over from Molly's normal chair in the corner of the room, next to the radio. "Consider it an early Christmas gift from me."

Luna took the gift from the air, and looked up at Molly. "Are you sure? I mean, it's not even Christmas Eve yet?" Molly simply nodded and gestured for her to open it. "Alright…" Luna mumbled, slowly and carefully pulling the spellotape apart and opening up the package to feel something… soft. Soft and rather woolly. She didn't have to feel much more, before she knew, and her mouth dropped into a perfect 'o' shape.

Slowly sliding the wrapping paper away, she picked up the present inside and pulled it out to reveal a jumper. Not a standard jumper, not one you could get in Diagon Alley, or any muggle shop. Molly Weasley had knitted her, her own Weasley family jumper. Perfect, deep Ravenclaw blue, with a striking, golden 'L' marking it as hers.

"Oh… oh Molly… Oh my word, I really don't know what to say. I'm… oh no, I'm getting teary..." Luna started to babble, and Harry wrapped her in a hug as she softly started to sniff.

Molly got up from the sofa opposite and sat down next to Luna, putting an arm around her and patting her gently. "Oh… it's alright dear. Your reaction is thanks enough. Thank you for being so good to Harry, and being so warm to us tonight. You're a credit to your mum and dad, and I hope you know that."

The smile on Luna's face couldn't be wiped after; not as Harry and Luna took the Floo Network home, not as they brushed their teeth before bed, not even as Luna wore the jumper to bed and got entirely too warm to be comfortable. That smile was near permanent after tonight, and Luna wasn't worried if the wind changed and her face stayed like that at all. As far as 'first Christmases with the boyfriend' go, hers was up there.


	2. December 22nd - Blessings

Every morning, since that wonderful first full day together in August, Harry woke up next to Luna with his arms around her waist and his face in her hair. The routine of the first thing he smelled being her lilac and raspberry shampoo – "I get it made for me, I quite like raspberries!" - was one he knew well. So waking up with his arms decidedly not around her waist, and his nostrils decidedly not full of the scent of lilac and raspberries was just a BIT of a break from the norm.

"Luna? Luna, where are you sweets?" He called out, hearing nothing in reply. He turned to the clock and checked the time. 6:14am. They normally got up a bit later… something must be slightly amiss.

"Luna? Are you in the bathroom?" Harry grabbed his glasses from the bedside table and climbed out of bed, yawning and stumbling bleary eyed out of the bedroom, and into the hallway of the bungalow they shared. He cracked a small smile as he heard clattering from the kitchen, the unmistakeable sizzling of eggs and the distinct smell of incredibly burnt toast.

He turned around the corner to see Luna humming to herself, still in the jumper Molly Weasley had knitted her the night before. Turning around, she mumbled a quick "Oh!" before rushing to give him a tight squeeze, looking up at him as she buried her face on his chest. "Morning. How are you?"

Harry kissed the top of her head as he hugged her back, and said into her hair "Eh… Tired still. Bit early for either of us to be up, isn't it?"

"Oh, I know, but I thought I'd be nice and make you breakfast in bed. You liked it last time."

"Luna, I liked it last time because all you were wearing was an apron."

Luna blushed and pushed her face harder into Harry's chest. "My nakedness and the fact that I considered myself to be part of your breakfast in more of a literal sense that day was simply a coincidence. Honest."

Harry snorted and leant down to give her a short peck on the lips before looking at the… scene before him in the kitchen. "Why on earth are there two lumps of charcoal in the bloody toaster?"

"Oh, well, you know how I like my toast really well done? I thought I'd go the extra mile and put it to the max setting. The way muggles make those toasters is really quite impressive, back at Daddy's we'd just put them in the oven and use an hourglass."

"That's not just well done… I could smash a window with one of those." Harry walked over and gingerly picked the… charcoal toast up. "That's rock solid! I'd tap it on the bloody counter but I'm afraid it'd crack it!"

Luna giggled. "Well I'll just have to put lots of jam on it. Lots… of jam."

Harry couldn't help but grin and he flicked his wand to put in a few slices of his own, turning the setting to be a bit more appropriate for his tastes. "Eggs and jam on toast… burnt toast. I sometimes question your taste in food."

"Oh feck off Harry, you're used to it by now." She got on her tiptoes and kissed him again, her silver eyes twinkling. "So… do you want the breakfast in bed still?"

"Oh… go on then… you twisted my arm."

* * *

Long having finished their breakfast of eggs on toast – with an impressive amount of raspberry jam on Luna's side – they laid in bed together and enjoyed a rather considerable amount of companionable silence, only broken by Luna looking over at the clock occasionally.

"So, what's the plan for today Harry Potter?"

"Well, I wanna go over to see your dad a bit earlier, see if he's okay for Christmas Day still. You don't think he'll mind if I drop in earlier than we'd said, do you?"

Luna shook her head and nuzzled into Harry's chest. "Not at all. He'll have sent all of the Christmas Quibbler's out by 11pm and gone straight to bed, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was up by now. I think he'll appreciate the company as well to be honest."

"And what about you sweets? You still going over to see Hermione?"

"Aye. I think she wants to head to the Burrow too, so I can go and properly say 'thank you' to Molly for the jumper. As nice as she was about it, I don't feel right only having me cry as a thank you."

Harry kissed the top of her head and looked over at the clock. "It's about 8'o'clock now. We've got a little while before we need to get ready… shall we just go watch a film in the front room?"

"Ooh… good idea. I thought you were going to suggest something 'else'."

"We can always do that instead, if you like? Then again… I can't be arsed, still too full from breakfast."

"Oh, thank God you said it, neither can I."

* * *

Stepping into the Burrow for the second time in as many days, Luna felt far more at ease this time, considering the warmth of her acceptance at the party. Still, though, despite herself and the more rational parts of her mind, there was unease. Unease as she crossed the threshold, unease as she slipped off her trainers, and a hint of unease when she went in to the kitchen to see Molly.

"Oh, hello Luna dear! How was last night? Not too hectic, was it?" Molly asked kindly, nodding towards the chair across from her and pouring out a cup of tea for her from the teapot.

"No, not at all, it was lovely actually. Not been to any sort of party for quite a while in all truth." Luna sat down and took her cup of tea, looking down at it and thinking to herself. "I really want to say… I'm so, so grateful for how lovely you all were to me last night. The jumper… I can't put it into words how thankful I am."

"And you don't need to, at all. I know you were worried, about everything last night. I could read it on you. I can understand it completely, I was in a similar way the first time I met Arthur's family. Nervous beyond belief. But they were lovely. I try and be as accepting as I can to every partner my children end up with."

Luna smiled and nodded. "That's… that's a good mentality to have Molly. Very good."

"Now… I wanted a proper, private talk with you last night, but we sort of got sidetracked, by your aforementioned nerves. Before you get nervous again… please, let me assure you, nothing bad will happen, I'm not at all mad or angry."

Luna's breath caught in her throat and she shifted uncomfortably. Oh. There was an actual talk… maybe this was the real vetting process. "Alright. I understand."

"Good. Now… as I mentioned last night, I see Harry as one of my own. Arthur and I tried, countless times before he became of age, to have him taken into our care and to raise him as our own, away from those horrible muggles Dumbledore put him with. It's one of the few issues that I still am quite… bitter about. Anyway…" Molly took a long sip from her cup of tea and sighed quietly.

"It's because I see him as my own, that I wanted to properly get you on your own, and just talk to you. No real, invasive questions, no unnecessary probing. I just wanted to talk to you and see what you're like when your guard is down. I've done this for everyone that got serious with one of my children. I did it to Hermione, I did it to Fleur, I did it when Harry himself got together with Ginny, and I did it to Angelina. It's definitely me being an overprotective mum. With everyone… it took a while to see them for who they were. Fleur was standoffish at first, defensive even. Hermione was just plain stubborn..." Luna snorted and held in a giggle. "Angelina was simply apprehensive. I noticed something when I spoke to Harry though."

"Oh? What… what did you notice?"

"Well, he's very… guarded. At first at least. But it doesn't take much to get him to really trust you, as long as you're honest. And when you're one of his friends, or someone he trusts in general, he's generous. To the point of maybe giving more than he should. He gave Fred and George a lot of money so they could start their joke shop you know."

"Really? Oh my word… how much?"

"I think it was after Harry won the Triwizard Tournament… the prize purse was a thousand Galleons? Harry just gave it to them, wanted nothing in return."

"Bloody hell! Ooh, sorry for the language."

"Oh, that's fine dear, don't worry about a little thing like that. But yes… he's very giving. I wanted initially to make sure that you'd be good for him. I run into lots of people who just want Harry for who he's seen as in the paper. After… reading his letters about you, how much he gushed about you, how much everyone seemed to gush about you… I was a bit scared for him. Seemed all too good to be true, despite knowing how much of a sweetheart you've always been – a mother has her worries after all. But when I saw you two on the way into the house last night, I saw the way you looked at each other. You look at each other the way Arthur and I still look at each other. You two really do love each other. So it was less a vetting process, this conversation, and more letting you know straight away that… you 'got the job'. So to speak. I don't think Harry could have found anyone better to be honest my dear."

"Not even Ginny? I mean, I know you mentioned last night that you were fine with it, but… would you not prefer Ginny to be with him? I mean… she's your daughter. It's most mother's dream to have their daughter involved with someone like him."

"It's my dream that all my children end up with someone who loves them for who they are. Ginny DID love him in that way, but they grew apart. And she'll be the first to admit that you're better for him."

Luna smiled and looked down, a sudden sense of pride filling her to the brim. "I… I can't say I'm not immensely flattered Molly. I don't know how I forgot how warm-hearted you all are."

"Don't mention it. Now… Ginny asked me to ask you, does Harry still leave his laundry on the bedroom floor instead of putting it in the wash basket?"

"Oh God, he gets on my bloody nerves with that!"

Any residual tension that Luna may have felt, upon talking to Molly and any of the other Weasleys, was gone by the time Ginny and Hermione stepped into the living room, and watched Molly and Luna talk from the sofa.

"Ginny, you said your mum had made Luna a jumper! Oh that's lovely!"

"I gave her the idea. Mum wanted to do something for her after you ended up blabbing to Mum about… you know."

"Oh… do you think Molly's let it slip? And do you think Harry's gone and got the ring yet?"

"Oh god no. Mum is many things, and one of them is a bloody good secret keeper. And Harry… you know him. He leaves it to the last minute all the time."

* * *

Harry stood at the bottom of the footpath leading up to the Rookery, his hands in his pockets and his heart thumping in his chest. He second-guessed his plan to ask for Xenophilius' blessing to get engaged for a moment; it was just something old-fashioned, wasn't it? He could just take Luna that night, elope to somewhere in the far distant north like the Shetland Isles and live in a little shack for the rest of their lives, save themselves the trouble.

Shaking his head, he started to tread up the footpath and after a minute found himself at the door, the nerves beginning anew. His heart rate sped up, he swore he could feel his blood pressure spike in a few scant seconds, but he said the immortal words every British person says at least once in their lives - "Fuck it." - and knocked on the door.

"Coming!" Xenophilius shouted from the other side, seemingly in the front room on the first floor of the house, confirmed by the muffled stomps from behind the stairs. The door opened and Xenophilius, bags under his eyes and his hair more askew than normal. "Ah, Harry! Good to see you lad. Fancy a cup of tea?"

Harry nodded and gave Xenophilius a short hug. "You alright Xeno? Heavy night last night?" He followed Xenophilius into the kitchen and took a seat at the table, tapping his fingers on the tabletop.

"Ooh, quite heavy. Nothing too arduous, but I just had to get all of the Christmas Quibblers out. I would have done it on the 18th but my sodding printer crapped itself out so I ended up having to hand print all the copies… you wouldn't believe the amount of coffee I've had to drink since Wednesday, trust me."

Harry snorted and said a quiet "Thank you" as Xenophilius handed him a cup and set the kettle to boil. "Molly and Arthur asked after you last night, but I mentioned you were most likely doing Quibbler stuff."

"Oh, the party… I meant to go this year as well, bugger. Very good of them to understand though. So!" he said with a flourish, as he sat down at the table. "I know you well enough by now, Mr Potter, that you don't make visits just so we can do some small talk. What's eating at your mind?"

Harry shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. "Yeah… there's a few things that I wanted to talk about, actually. A few… somewhat important things."

Xenophilius nodded in understanding. "Alright then lad. Shoot."

"Well… I wanted to ask about Pandora."

Xenophilius's breath caught in his throat. "Y-you wanted to ask about Pandora?"

"Yeah… well, I won't ask anything that'll make you uncomfortable, you know that. I wanted to ask… about how you and her got together… and how you knew she was the right one."

"Ah. Ah, now that, I could talk about all day." Xenophilius's face lit up with a grin so wide it was almost comical, if not for how genuine and earnest it was. "I never told you about when I met Pandora, did I?"

"Nah, I only heard a bit from Luna. She said that when you first saw her, you fell into a puddle?"

"Aye. I was living in a druid camp on Anglesey. She'd come over from Ireland, took the poor love a few days since she was from the west coast, to have a wand made for her. I was coming back from fishing and we got into the camp site at the same time. I saw her, in these lovely green robes, and she was just… a picture. I was staring right up until a dog got under my feet and I tripped right into a puddle."

"You went face first, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah, that's always the way it goes. Face first, right into a muddy puddle. I was covered, head to bloody toe. It made her laugh. I fell in love with her bloody laugh Harry. We were inseparable for the few days she was there, and I followed her back to Ireland, all the way to Galway."

"Didn't you two get married a week after? Like… how did you know already? What were her parents like about it? What were YOUR parents like about it?"

"Her parents were… well, they were eccentric as well, and they loved me, so they threw full support behind us. My mum and dad weren't alive by that point, sadly. But they wouldn't have approved. Very prim-and-proper old money types."

"I'm assuming that's why Luna's Irish accent is so strong."

"Oh yeah, we spent a lot of time in Ireland when she was younger. Not even a hint of my Welsh side in her. But… to answer your thing about how I knew. I suppose… well, I said to you and to Luna when you first got together back in May, to take it at a pace that felt natural to you, and all that. That was simply how Pandora and I went about it. We were together a week before we got married, and that felt so impossibly right."

"I imagine that… it was wonderful. Everything I've heard about Pandora from Luna, it seems like she was one hell of a woman."

"Like you wouldn't believe. Surprisingly traditional though, in some aspects. She didn't want to get married unless I asked for her father's blessing. Her dad told her time and time again that it didn't matter to him, but she bloody well insisted that I ask for his blessing. Of course he did, and would have done anyway."

Harry shifted again, and tapped his foot on the floor, nerves starting to build again. He had that fleeting thought again, of eloping to a distant Scottish island to live in a shack for the rest of their lives, of completely forgoing all the hullabaloo of the formalities of marriage and engagement. It danced in his mind and he went distant until Xenophilius got up to take the kettle from the boil, and pour the pair of them a cup of tea.

"Sorry Xeno… I was miles away."

"Not a problem lad, not a problem at all. I don't like to interrupt people when they're deep in thought, can make for some scrambled ideas."

Harry cleared his throat, and looked Xenophilius in the eye. "Xeno… you know that I love Luna. I love her deeply, probably a lot more than even I care to admit."

Xenophilius looked a bit confused for a second. "Um… where is this going Harry? Nothing untoward has happened, has it?"

"No, no, nothing bad at all. Um..." Harry scratched the back of his neck as a nervous tic, and he started bouncing his leg, his heart rate going mad again.

"If something is bothering you lad… take as long as you need."

"Alright. Um… You said how Pandora's dad didn't particularly mind if you asked for his blessing or not. Do… do you feel the same sort of way?"

"Well, it certainly doesn't matter that I give the blessing on the- oh." Xenophilius's face went blank, as he started to ponder what Harry was hinting towards.

"But you asked for it anyway didn't you? As a show of good faith?"

"Indeed."

"So. L-let me do the same thing. Xenophilius… um… oh fuck it; will you give me your blessing to marry Luna?"

Xenophilius stammered for quite a while, and he looked down at the table. "Uh… y-you want my b-blessing for..." He started to stammer, and he seemed to have a conversation with himself for a while, making Harry's nerves even worse, and he started to visibly fidget until another, impossibly wide smile broke out across Xenophilius's face.

"You want my blessing to marry Luna? You want to marry my little girl, my little Moonbeam?"

"Like you wouldn't bloody believe."

Xenophilius's smile started to crimp the corners of his mouth, his lip started to wobble and his eyes misted up as he said with an audible voice crack "And you think I wouldn't immediately say yes? For fuck's sake Harry, you're a smart lad but you're crap at reading people sometimes."

Harry grinned and got up to give Xenophilius a tight hug. "Oh thank fuck for that." he mumbled. He held Xenophilius close as the latter started to sniff, before shifting away and taking his seat again.

"So… when are you actually asking her to tie the knot?"

"Christmas Eve. As an early present."

"Pretty good as far as early presents go… puts most blokes to shame. How do you feel about having the wedding in the garden here? Big tent out the back, like Bill and Fleur's at the Burrow a few years ago? And hopefully with you not drinking Polyjuice Potion in a pale attempt to imitate a distant Weasley, along with about a dozen Death Eaters attacking at the end."

Harry snorted and started to sip from his tea, his nerves leaving by the second. "Good idea. Ours will be quieter though, not as many people. Though… how many people from the Irish side would want to come over?"

"Ooh… Luna's nan and granddad, her aunt, and the cousin she lived with in Bristol. It's not huge. But… make sure to get a lot of alcohol in. They like challenging us to drinking competitions, so I wouldn't be surprised if they get hammered."

* * *

Luna sat on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair and humming to herself. "Harry… what was up with Daddy today?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I came round earlier, his eyes were really red, and puffy. And whenever he looked at us, he started smiling. Like… impossibly wide. Is Daddy smoking again?"

Harry felt a flash of panic before he realised what she said and he sat up in bed to respond. "Smoking what? You don't mean weed do you?"

"Oh yeah. He's rather partial to it sometimes, he gets all giggly and his eyes go red. Was he smoking it today."

"Uh… yeah. Yeah, that's why his eyes were all red, yeah." Harry shuffled around and hugged Luna from behind as she placed the hairbrush down, feeling her relax into him. "How was it at the Burrow today sweets?"

"Oh, it was rather nice. Had a nice talk with Molly, then caught up with Ginny for a while. They all asked the same thing about you."

"What was it?"

Luna started to giggle, and she craned her neck to look back at him. "They all asked if you still leave your dirty washing on the bedroom floor." She giggled harder as Harry groaned and started to giggle himself.

"Not again. Look, I always go and put it in the wash-basket later, but they never bloody see that, do they?" Harry grinned as he leaned down to give Luna a peck on the lips. "Glad you had a nice day sweets. Missed you."

"Missed you too." Luna returned the kiss and held his gaze for a short while, before a flash of mischief appeared in her eyes and she started to smile. "I wanted to ask you a question Harry Potter; a bit of a personal one, if you don't mind the intrusion?"

Harry gave her a wry smile in return, and adopted a faux-formal tone. "And what, Luna Lovegood, would you like to know that's so personal?"

She turned around in his arms and cupped his face with her hand, stroking his cheek affectionately with her thumb. "I wanted to know… have you still got that birthmark? You know exactly the one I mean."

"It's not as if you last saw it on Thursday night, is it?"

"No, definitely not! Nothing wrong with a reminder though, is there sweetheart?" Luna giggled as she leaned up to kiss Harry, a bit more driven than the peck she'd just returned. Safe to say, by the end of the night when they had fallen asleep in each other's arms… she saw the birthmark again.


	3. December 24th - The Gift and the Question

Harry had been awake for quite a while, before the rays of the sun poked through the curtains. He was panicking, as he had been during every single early awakening that night so far. He was panicking for a specific, daunting reason.

Today was the day.

Today was the day he was going to collect Luna's early Christmas present from Diagon Alley. A present he wanted to give her far earlier in the year, but only realised in retrospect.

Today was the day he was going to ask Luna to marry him.

Just thinking about doing so made his heart race in nervous excitement, and he found himself grinning as he imagined it. He thought about every possible cliché way of doing it, every possible unorthodox way of doing it, every single way it could go right or wrong. He knew Luna though. He knew it wouldn't go wrong.

He shifted under the covers and turned to face her, giving her a little nudge and whispering in her ear. "Oi… oi Luna. Are you awake?"

She stirred and let out a soft squeak, not opening her eyes but pulling Harry into a warm hug, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Morning Harry Potter. What time is it?"

Harry leaned over to look at the clock then came down to return the kiss. "It's a quarter to eight. Wanna get up yet? I can make breakfast again if you like? I don't trust you not to burn the toast again."

Luna giggled and nuzzled into his chest, looking up at him innocently. "That's just how **I** like it Harry. I like burned toast. With far too much raspberry jam. And a fried egg." She giggled harder as Harry looked down at her with faux-exasperation.

"You're bloody weird sometimes, you know that sweets?"

"If you deny that that's why you like me then you're a feckin' liar." Luna pulled back and rested her head on the pillow. "When have you got to be up in London?"

"Ooh, not until midday. I'll probably Floo to Grimmauld Place then head to Diagon Alley from there. Get the last of the presents, send them out to everyone, check in on Kreacher, then come back here. Probably be home by about… four? Five at most?"

"Sounds alright. I will miss you though you know."

"Yeah but I'll only be gone a few hours. How can you miss me that much over four bloody hours?"

"This is coming from the same person who said they missed me after I went for a shower and insisted on staying in bed instead of joining me." Luna gave him a knowing look and smirked as Harry looked away, turning scarlet.

"I was tired… alright? Wanted a bit more of a kip. Anyway… fancy some breakfast? And NOT burned toast this time."

Luna rolled her eyes and threw back the covers to get out of bed. "Fine. But I'm still having jam on it… and then the egg."

"Bloody weirdo… Still love you, but you're bloody weird."

* * *

Harry found himself pleasantly surprised as he bustled around Diagon Alley and solved the issues of those last minute presents; it was practically deserted. The shops were only open for the last desperate shoppers like Harry who were either apathetic towards giving in the spirit of the season or just plain procrastinators, which suited Harry perfectly, fitting firmly into the latter category.

The sun was already starting to set as Harry stepped out of the post office, his coin purse a fair bit lighter after sending off all the presents. He only had one left to get anyway, and this was one he was going to deliver personally.

Stepping past the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron and into the side-street leading to Knockturn Alley, he strode with purpose through all the little back streets and past the last few street traders milling about. Ignoring all the callouts and the solicitation, he stopped after ducking into a quiet and… relatively light corner of the alley. He looked up at the sign reading "Malfoy & Greengrass" and breathed out heavily, stepping inside and looking towards the register to find… no one. He made to look around the rest of the shop when he heard a soft voice from behind him.

"He's in the back room."

Harry turned around to spot a short, frail look young lady with neat brown hair. He gave her a small smile and extended his hand to her. "Ever so sorry… have we met before? I'm Harry-"

"Potter, I knew that already. As if there's a witch or wizard in Britain who doesn't know you." She took his hand and shook it lightly, pulling back to wrap herself up in the shawl on her shoulders. "_Brr_, bloody hate this weather… oh, sorry! I'm Astoria, Draco's wife, he said you were coming. Yes, he's in the back-room looking over your… gift."

At that same moment, a door next to the kitchenette in the back of the shop opened, and Draco stepped out, a jeweller's loupe in his hand. "Oh, Potter!" He gave Harry a small smile and headed over. "Just had a look-see at it; lovely piece, very simple, totally safe. And I see you've met Astoria at last."

Draco walked over and put his jacket over Astoria's shoulders, giving her a short kiss on the top of the head and handing a small box to Harry. Draco nodded to open it and Harry did so, his smile becoming wide as he got a closer look. "That's bloody perfect. Oh, she'll be chuffed. Thank you Draco. What's the damage?"

Draco stopped him as he went to grab his coin purse out. "No no. You already paid the jeweller, and I won't charge you for checking it over. Call it a friend's discount." Draco blushed as Astoria looked up at him admiringly, and Harry had to stifle a laugh.

"Aww… how good of you Draco. To be honest Potter, he's a bit of a soft touch behind that dashing, aloof exterior. Who is it you're proposing to, again? I remember reading somewhere you and the Weasley girl weren't a thing any more?"

"Ooh, yeah, that was quite a while ago. Umm… do you remember Luna Lovegood? She was in Ravenclaw. A bit odd."

"Yes… year above me. About one of the only Ravenclaws I got on with if I'm honest. She's… yeah, she's odd, but she's absolutely lovely. How's she getting on? And when are you giving her the ring?"

Harry scratched the back of his neck and looked down at his shoes. "Um… yeah, she's getting on really well. Moved in with me back in August, we've got a nice little house in the West Country. And… I'm giving her the ring tonight."

"Tonight?!" Astoria's eyes popped out of her head in shock, while Draco just smirked amusedly; he was a little more privy to Harry's plans considering he'd been the one to source the ring.

"Yeah, early Christmas present. Feels right to ask her now, if I'm 100% honest with you. Very right."

* * *

As the film's credits started rolling, Luna reluctantly shifted Harry's head from where it rested on her chest and flicked her wand to turn the TV off. Unorthodox, to enjoy fish & chips in front of a horror film on Christmas Eve, but sometimes the unorthodox approach was the most enjoyable. She rested her head on Harry's and sighed happily, enjoying some quiet before Harry broke the silence.

"'Silent Night, Deadly Night'?" Harry turned to look up at her from his leaning position, a smirk on his face. "'Silent Night, Deadly Night'?! Honestly Luna, some of these film titles are a bit too on the nose to take seriously."

Luna rolled her eyes and looked down. "What do you expect Harry? Films weren't so subtle back in the 1970's. Plus, by my reckoning, it counts as a Christmas film."

"I… can't argue with the subtle part. No reason to be vague or 'arty' when you can just call the film something like… I dunno, 'Hobo with a Shotgun', or something like that. Gets the intent across pretty well if you're into that sort of thing."

"Hmm… that wasn't a bad film actually. Pacing wasn't the best but it was quite interesting." Luna said in an airy tone, the one she usually took when musing on films about slashers and killers. The airy façade fell and she cracked into suppressed giggles when Harry turned to her with mock-horror on his face.

"Oh you've got to be joking. Don't tell me that film exists for god's sake?!" Luna broke into soft laughter at this and nodded as she kissed his forehead affectionately.

"Aye… not a bad film by any stretch. Not as nice as you are either."

"Well I have to say, it's the first time I've been compared to a B-grade horror film in terms of niceness. Glad I pass the test." Harry leaned up to give her a peck on the lips, before shifting slightly, some visible discomfort coming to him as he sat up away from Luna. He looked away from her and didn't notice her look of slight panic, nor the slight worry as he shifted.

"Luna… there's something I want to tell you. Well, tell AND give you. I dunno if I remember mentioning it or not, but every Christmas Eve, I give the people that I consider really close to me, an early gift. I do it to show that I really, really love them, show I appreciate them." He'd started to shake and bristle thanks to a build up of nervous excitement, but felt it melt away when she linked her fingers with his, as she gently pulled his gaze back to her, silver eyes shining in the soft light of the living room.

"You're nervous sweetheart. Take as long as you need. Though I can gather that the present is pretty big, I assume."

Harry looked at her and felt himself blush, uncharacteristically, and he looked away from her again as he started to smile. "Sweets, if anything, I think that understates how 'big' I consider it. I've had to be a bit secretive about it, truth be told."

Luna nodded slowly in understanding, and partly in speculation. "I'm guessing that's why you were in Diagon Alley today."

"Yeah. It was a particular present I had to go get." He audibly gulped and shifted from the sofa onto the floor, Luna deciding to shuffle along and stroke his hair comfortingly, smiling as he sighed in relief at the sensation. Harry reached to the coffee table and pulled the drawer underneath it open, pulling out a pale white envelope, 'Luna' printed on the front. "I wrote you this letter, when I got back from St Mungo's last Friday. It's part of the present, and I know it's probably naff that I'm giving you a letter, but I think you'll understand why. I want you to read it, all of it. It's important that you-"

"Read it?" Luna leaned down and kissed his cheek, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a soft embrace from above him. "I guessed that sweetie." She gently slid the envelope from his grasp and gave him another kiss on the cheek, snaking her free hand down to link their fingers together again, as she deftly opened the envelope and pulled the letter out… not noticing the ring spellotaped to the bottom half of the back. Harry shifted his weight and got up onto one knee, still holding her hand, and looking up at her with an expectant smile.

_ _Luna Lovegood, there are seven billion people on this planet. Of those seven billion, only a tenth are in Europe. And of that roughly seven-hundred million people, seventy million or so are in the UK. And of that… there's only sixty, seventy at a stretch, thousand witches and wizards. _ _ _ _We happened to go to Hogwarts together, a school of just under a thousand people, and of the friends I made there, the best of them was you._ _

_ _I've met so many witches and wizards in my time alive, that I could have loved or hated. The same can be said for muggles. But of EVERYONE, the best was you. I chose you, to love and to absolutely cherish, because since we first met, long before we were ever lovers, you've believed in me. Implicitly too, that doesn't happen very often. I can't put how grateful I am to have known you not just as a lover, but as a very, very dear friend. My best friend. My soul mate (oh god, that's the cheesiest thing I've ever written), the love of my life… sweets… pick any of the terms of endearment, they all fit nicely – though I think I can tell which one is your favourite._ _

_ _I think now is the time, after seven months of us loving each other, that I call you something different. Not my girlfriend. Something better. A bit larger in magnitude. You've probably noticed the letter is a bit weighty at the bottom. If you turn the letter over, you'll see why._ _

_ _Harry xxx_ _

Luna was stunned into silence. Profound silence. Harry watched her read the letter over and over again, at least half a dozen times, before it started. Her lip started to wobble and tears started forming at the corners of her eyes. Her breathing started to become ragged and excited, and the grip she had on Harry's hand grew tighter by the second. Harry started to smile impossibly wide, and got up to sit next to her on the sofa, leaning his head on her shoulder.

She flipped over the letter and let out a quiet gasp, a tear falling down onto the back of the letter, where she saw, spellotaped carefully, a platinum band. She placed the letter down gently and slowly moved the tape off to get a closer look at the ring, looking at it in quiet awe. It wasn't flashy, overly ornate or anything ostentatious; it was simply a platinum ring. Beautiful in the simplest of ways. In Harry's eyes, and in Luna's, it was perfect.

"So… t-t-that's why you were gone." Luna said in a shaky voice, studying the ring closer.

"Yeah."

"Where d-did you g-g-g-get it?" She said, another tear trailing down her cheek.

"Draco knows a jeweller. No hexes, or anything untoward or nasty. It's a plain old platinum ring. Well… I say plain. It's yours. And anything that you have is far from plain."

Luna thought back to two days ago, when she'd gone to her dad's and found Harry and him in a tight hug, her dad's eyes red and puffy, from what he implied was smoking… something. But the hints he kept dropping, verbally and non-verbally, started clicking in her mind. "This is why you went to go see Daddy a bit earlier the other day, wasn't it?"

"Yeah. Wanted to be traditional. Ask for his blessing. Don't think he could have given it faster. And for the record… he did have a smoke, but it was after he started crying." Harry gently took the ring from Luna's fingers, and gave her a warm smile.

"Let me do it sweets."

He slowly slid the ring onto her finger, and as it glided perfectly into place, she burst into the happiest sobs that she thought she'd ever sobbed. She hugged Harry so tightly he found it hard to breathe, and he joined her in the crying, the sound of their sobs filling their home. They held each other until the clock rang for midnight, and they reluctantly pulled apart. Luna pressed her forehead to Harry's and gave him an eskimo kiss, sharing a moment of brevity with him in the raw gravitas of the moment.

Harry kept his forehead pressed to Luna's as he broke the silence, and asked her the question that, in truth, he'd wanted to ask her since they first got together back in May. That perfect night, that perfect first date. Eating fish and chips on the park bench. Kissing under the light of the moon, forgetting everything except each other. Enjoying a film together in Ron and Hermione's front room, and passing out on the sofa in each other's arms. That perfect night when he realised that Luna was the one he wanted to grow old with.

"Luna Lovegood. I love you more than I thought it was possible to love another person. More than I ever think it WILL be possible to love another person. If I was under torture to say I loved another, I'd take it. I could be paid thousands upon thousands of Galleons, and I'd give it back to them. Voldemort could be here with his wand pointed straight at me, with an offer to let me live if I said I didn't love you… and I'd spit in his face. What I want to say… or what I'm trying to..." He felt his nerves start to rise again and he start to shake until...

Luna gave him a short kiss and held his hands, looking into his eyes and calming him. "Sweetie… take as long as you need."

"What I want to say, is I want you to give me the only Christmas gift I want. It could be for the rest of my life, but if you give me this one I wouldn't mind at all. Luna… will you marry me?"

Luna broke into sobs again and peppered his face with kisses. She caught him in a bear-hug and started babbling into his ear, combinations of "yesharrypotteriwillmarryyou" and "ohgodimsofeckinhappy". Harry, in contrast, kept silent, save for his own sobs.

Pulling apart reluctantly after a few more minutes of the most joyous crying the pair of them ever thought they could manage, they sat quietly in each other's arms for a few minutes until Luna broke the silence. 

“I want five kids.”

Harry choked on his own spit and started laughing, leaning into Luna to hold himself up. “W-w-what?! Five kids?! Sweets, we barely have it in us to take care of Teddy when we see him, what makes you think we can deal with five?!”

“Five. Children. Doesn't matter about the gender, doesn't matter if we end up adopting or fostering any either I just want five children. So if you don't knock me up Harry Potter, we shall be having words.” Luna gave him a faux-stony look and held it impressively long until she cracked and fell back into the hug, giggling like a lovestruck schoolgirl.

Through the hug, Harry reached up to his forehead, as if to check if everything was real. No pain. No aches. No dark lords causing either. All was well.


	4. December 25th - The First of Many

Harry found himself in an odd, but also familiar place. Everything was porcelain white, and after a few seconds of slowly looking around, he realised where he was.

"Oh great. I died again. Fantastic! Just when I got engaged as well..." he trailed off in mild exasperation, before going to seat himself on a nearby bench. He heard a soft chuckle behind him, and he turned around to see who let it out.

"If there's one thing I'm not surprised you picked up from your dad and Sirius, it's the sarcasm. Very blunt with it though, very on the nose." a female voice said from behind a pillar, a voice Harry found, like the location, familiar but alien at the same time. He'd definitely heard it before though, and he managed to place where when she stepped out from behind the pillar.

"M-mum?"

"Hello poppet… happy Christmas."

Harry leapt over the bench and swept his mum into a tight hug. She giggled and reached through the hug to wipe a tear from her eye as she hugged him back.

"And to answer your question… no, you're not dead, thankfully. You're just dreaming right now."

"I'm dreaming? How can you talk to me then? I only spoke to Dumbledore when I was stuck in… well, it was basically Limbo, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. We've had words with him about that. Well, we may have; speaking to people in dreams is a bit different to speaking to people in Limbo and all the continuity is... anyway sweetheart, I wanted to say something to you. I am so very, very proud of you. Here, come sit on the bench again, I may as well get comfortable."

Harry snorted and sat down next to her, leaning his head on her shoulder. "How does wanting to get comfortable work when you're visiting me in a dream? And… thank you, I suppose. Bit weird to be commended by someone who's… dead, to be frank."

Lily kissed the top of his head and sighed. "Yes… I can imagine it feels a bit strange. But it is true. We do keep an eye on you and we're so proud sweetheart. What you went through when you were younger was something that would put even the strongest person on their knees, and you know for a fact there's no shame in just… needing a hand. You needed that help this year, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I needed it. Start of the year was shit, if I'm completely honest. I wish any of you lot were down here still, would have made things a bit easier."

"You handled it so well though poppet. You got that help you needed, and we saw the new lady in your life. Xenophilius's daughter, eh? I remember Xeno from school, oh he was a lovely bloke. And don't think we didn't see when you brought her to say hello to the headstones. That… well, that made your dad cry."

Harry beamed at his mum and felt himself blush a little. "Of all things to cry about… did you see last night? When I… you know?"

"Yeah, you sappy little sod, we saw it. Your dad cried at that as well. He's quite sentimental really, though he'd have never told you himself. We're all immensely proud of you my love. I suppose visiting you in your sleep was just something we could finagle with Death, some way of giving you a present from us."

Harry looked down at his hands and shifted a little, leaning into his mum some more and hugging her again. "Sorry to be a downer… but have we got much longer? Even if it's just a dream I kind of want to get my money's worth of having a decent cuddle with my mum."

Lily giggled again and looked over at a suddenly-clear clock on the platform. "We've got a little bit, but I feel like you're gonna wake up soon anyway. A certain someone is up."

Harry smiled and hugged his mum tighter. "Ah… I expected as much. She loves the holidays. Mum..."

"Yes poppet?"

"How… regularly could this happen? Like, could I see you again? Or Dad, or Sirius or Remus… could I see any of you again?"

"Ah… I think it could be managed, but don't hold me to it. Don't want to get your hopes up."

Harry nuzzled into his mum's shoulder, like he wished he could have so many times, and mumbled "It's alright. Even if it's just tonight, I'll be grateful."

Harry stayed there with his mum on the bench until a tannoy system rang into life, and Luna's distinctive lilt sounded over the 'speakers'. "Harry… hey, Harry Potter. I've got your presents!"

Lily giggled and patted Harry on the back. "C'mon you, time to get back to reality. Now… You'll be okay, won't you? I don't want the next time I see you to be in Limbo."

"No, no. I'll be alright Mum. And again… thank you."

They got up and shared one last hug before the train station began to fade. "We haven't got long poppet, so I just have to say… your dad and I are too young to be grandparents, so don't have all five at once, alright?" Lily kissed him on the cheek as she too started to fade away.

"Okay mum… though I can't promise anything. Hope you come visit again. Bring Dad next time, alright?"

"Alright then. See you soon poppet." She waved as Harry's dream faded into black, and he thought that he would return to the depths of his slumber...

* * *

"Psst. Hey... Harry, wake up."

Harry didn't move from his slumber. At all. If anything, he snored louder and buried his face in the pillow.

"Haaaaarrrrrrryyyy? It's Christmas Day! I've got presents!"

He snored. Again. He even started to dribble on the pillow. If it wasn't for Luna being so hyperactive already, she'd have let him sleep. Alas...

"HARRY POTTER YOU WAKE UP RIGHT THIS INSTANT AND OPEN YOUR FECKIN' PRESENTS!"

Harry didn't think it was possible to jump a couple of feet into the air from a prone position. He didn't think it was possible to land on his hands and feet like a cat while only being awake for a total of three seconds. And he especially didn't think it was possible to notice how amused Luna was at the rather girlish shriek he made as he backed up against the headboard on the bed. So amused in fact, that she was laughing rather hysterically and fighting to sit upright on the edge of the bed.

"Oh my word Harry… Oh, I've been waiting to do something like that for ages! Ten minutes though! Ten bloody minutes I've been trying to get you up!"

After the shock wore off, Harry's face broke into a grin and he gestured for Luna to come in for a hug, kissing her forehead and mumbling "Happy Christmas sweets." into her ear.

"Happy Christmas to you too sweetheart. Your sleep was quite deep, I noticed, so I figured you must have been having a lovely dream. Anything particularly nice or would you rather not mention?" She looked up at him from the hug, and Harry had to marvel for a second at how perceptive she could be.

"Uh… yeah. Had a lovely dream about my mum. Sounds really sad to be honest, but I just had a chat with her and we cuddled. Quite a bit actually. Felt like someone up there decided to give me a present."

"I don't think that's sad at all. I think it's very sweet as a matter of fact. I've had visits from Mummy before when I've been asleep. Some would call it just a dream but, I think I agree with you; sometimes, someone up there just wants to pay us a visit. Now… about your presents!"

Her sudden burst of enthusiasm made Harry jump again, but he found himself smiling right from the offset as Luna pointed at the foot of the bed, a small pile of presents sitting there. "I got you a bunch of the normal stuff, like socks and that, but that's all very boring and the suchlike so let's just get it all out of the way..." She levitated a few soft-looking packages over and opened them with him, making little comments like "Oh I thought you'd like those, they're thermal socks." and "Before you say anything, I bought that jumper with no idea of what the innuendo was with 'Master Baiter', I just remember you really enjoyed fishing with Daddy and I."

Harry pulled a heftier, more solid package over and felt it in his hands. "This… this feels like a book. Not that I'm averse to a book… but IS it a book?"

"It's a book of sorts. It's more like… a collection. I had to ask around for stuff for it, as… well, I made it for you."

Harry arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Did you… make me a photo album? Like Hagrid's one for me when I was a kid?"

Luna smiled in mock defeat, and put her arms up. "You got me. It struck me when I moved in that you've not got many pictures of your friends. Not many at all. I thought I'd remedy that. So, I sent a few letters around, to Dennis Creevey, to Ron and Hermione of course… and I got you this. I hope you'll like it."

Harry opened the wrapping paper carefully and found a photo album with the word 'Friends' printed crisply on the front. He opened to the first page slowly… and remembered the scene in the photograph. "This… Colin took this. He took this when he first came to Hogwarts. That first morning after we got in." Harry turned to Luna. "And… Dennis had this?"

"Dennis is a photographer as well. He went through Colin's old collection and gave me a good chunk of it to use. Even developed a few of them. Go on… keep looking through." She shuffled up next to him and hugged her legs to her chest, the green/red stripes of her tights contrasting with the blue jumper Molly had knitted for her just a few days before. She leaned over and rested her head on his shoulder as he started to flick through, sighing quietly.

"Ooh… I remember that one as well, that was when we all had to sleep in the Great Hall in third year… Oh look, Dean and Seamus playing Gobstones… hang on a tick. This..." Harry pointed at one photograph in particular and cracked a wide smile. "Dumbledore's Army. Just before we all broke up for Christmas."

Luna joined him in smiling. "Aye… that was my favourite photo Dennis sent. And if you look closely..." She pointed to the image of herself, looking around airily and holding something in her hand. "I'm holding the mistletoe. I managed to nick it before he called for us to pose."

Harry kissed the top of her head and she let out a soft mewl in response, starting to flick through the photos some more, finding himself rather reluctant to close once he reached the last page… it was full of photos of Ron and Hermione's wedding, and Harry looking rather worse for wear with George. "George really can knock 'em back you know, I was paralytic by the end of the night; Ginny had to hold my hair back when I was sick."

Luna gently moved the book aside and knelt in front of him, pushing him against the headboard. She reached out and cupped his face in her hands and stroked his cheek with her thumb, giving him a small smile. "Now I want you to remember this Harry. If you're feeling blue again, and no one is around… I want you to look through this photo album. Just to remind yourself that you're loved. Like the mural I painted in Grimmauld Place, I want it to be a remind that there are people that love you." She leaned in for a gentle kiss, then pulled away and pressed her forehead to his.

"Thank you sweets. It's the best gift I really could have asked for, aside from you saying yes last night of course."

"Yeah… you always have to one up me, don't you? You little shit."

* * *

After a few more gifts – new motorcycle leathers for Harry, some vinyl records and a book on magizoology for Luna – they shovelled down a breakfast of suspiciously burned toast and jam before apparating together to Godric's Hollow, a handful of Christmas wreaths in their hands. "We'll do this, say hello, then we'll go and get Daddy… okay?" Luna said to Harry as they started the slow walk to the cemetery. Harry squeezed her hand and nodded in response, puffing out a sigh.

Harry was quiet on the walk up to the cemetery and when they laid the wreaths upon the headstones. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus, he laid the wreaths down gently upon each of their headstones and stood silently, his grip on Luna's hand still tight.

"Harry? Harry, you're quiet. Are you okay?" Luna pressed gently, leaning into him with a gentle hug. Harry leaned his head on hers and just nodded, putting his arm around her shoulder and sighing again.

"Yeah. Bit wistful to be honest. You remember that dream I told you about this morning? You know, the one with my mum?" Luna nodded, and Harry started to continue. "It made me wish they were down here still. So they could still celebrate with us. It's why I mostly spent Christmas on my own actually. Even Ginny would go over the Burrow, and I'd stay at home."

Luna looked up at him sadly and hugged him tighter. "You don't have to worry about that any more. At all. Small Christmases are very nice anyway, I think you'll enjoy Daddy's company today too. Though, once we start on the kids..." She looked up at him with a glint of mischief in her eyes, making Harry smirk and blush.

"Five kids Luna. Five. You've got some ambition when it comes being a mum, don't you? And anyway, what makes you think we're gonna have five?"

"You think we're going to have more?"

Harry looked down and held in a laugh, his eyes twinkling. "Nah… five sounds right. Shame they won't know one set of grandparents. I think Mum and Dad would love them. Sirius and Remus too; though I think Sirius would start teaching them how to swear."

Luna snorted. "Mummy used to swear like a sailor, she'd join him I think. They don't have to worry too much. They've got our photo albums at least."

"Yeah. Never gonna be lacking for family." Harry kissed the top of her head and hugged her again. "D'you reckon we should go get your dad in a bit?" Luna nodded into the hug before waving goodbye to the headstones, Harry staying behind. "I'll see you lot later. Merry Christmas." He smiled, and as he walked off to follow Luna, he swore he could her his mum's voice say very faintly… "Merry Christmas poppet."

* * *

As the sky turned dark and the snow began to fall once more, Harry and Luna found themselves sitting with Xenophilius in the living room, with their stomachs full, their moods high, and Harry deep into a game of Exploding Snap with his future father-in-law. Luna sat with her head on Harry's shoulder, tiredness encroaching on her eyes.

"Hmm…" Xenophilius murmured. He locked eyes with Harry and flipped his last card onto the pile. "Armando Dippet. Your move boyo."

Harry glanced at Xenophilius, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. The older man's expression was overly warm and Harry had no idea why he was taking a game of Exploding Snap so seriously, but he he had to beat his future father-in-law… for some reason. The pile in the middle was stacked high, and they were close to the end… Harry flipped a card onto the pile, but before he could react…

"Snap!" Xenophilius startled, as he whacked his wand down onto the pile, the duplicate Armando Dippet popped in a small explosion and caused Luna to jump. "Oh… sorry Moonbeam, I got quite into it there."

"Oh, that's fine Daddy. You won, I take it?"

He gave Harry a smug look and replied "Aye… fourth game in a row, isn't it Harry?"

Harry rubbed his face and groaned in defeat. "Fifth, actually. I'm an auror for crying out loud, how are my reflexes this bad?"

"Probably the food. And the alcohol. And the fact that you seem to be getting fairly tired, it's been a bit hectic the past few days." Luna looked at him dreamily, visibly exhausted herself. "I might go get ready for bed now, actually..." She trailed off and got up from the sofa, yawning.

"Ah… I should be getting ready to leave now as well. Thank you for hosting Moonbeam, very kind of you." Xenophilius stood and drew Luna into a tight hug. "Love you sweetheart." he mumbled.

"Love you too Daddy. If I'm not out by the time you're gone, see you on Saturday." She kissed him on the cheek then turned to hug Harry, giving him a peck on the lips before walking off, Harry's gaze following her as she walked away, a smile on his face.

"I did that a lot."

Harry turned back to Xenophilius, the smile still on his face. "Sorry Xeno?"

"Whenever Pandora would go off and do something… I'd stare until she got out of sight." Xenophilius had a wistful smile on his face, and Harry swore he noticed a tear start to drop. "You've got something very special with her, you know that... don't you?"

Harry kept smiling, and walked over to him. "Of course I do. Thank you ever so much for coming over, Christmas felt really special thanks to you two." Harry embraced him and kept him in a hug until he pulled away, grinning.

"Not a problem at all Harry. I… I just wanted to say thank you myself. Thank you for welcoming me here and thank you for being so very good to Luna." Harry was about to respond but Xenophilius interrupted again. "No, really. I'm very, very grateful that she reconnected with you this year. That first day she got a letter back from you, I somehow knew that something wonderful would come. She was still recovering from her… unpleasantness when she met with you in St Mungo's."

"And I was starting to recover from mine."

"Aye. I see so much good in the pair of you, that it almost hurts. You've both had some horrid things happen in your lives so you both deserve something unequivocally good… you have that with each other - flaming, passionate, that I last saw between myself and Pandora before she was taken from us." Xenophilius's voice cracked and he grabbed a tissue to dab his eyes.

"I wish I could have met her. She sounds wonderful."

"Oh my boy, she was. She was exceptional. She'd have loved you as well; she liked people that were honest, and just… good. She'd be so proud of Luna as well, so so proud. Though, I think even she would have baulked at Luna wanting five children." Xenophilius chuckled, and Harry turned away with another grin on his face. "But no… She'd be so proud. Luna's very like her, you know. She'd loved that you asked for our blessing too."

"I hope so. What did you think of the ring?"

"Very understated, and very Luna. Yes, she can be quite flamboyant, but… I think it's a perfect mirror to how beautiful she really is, inside and out. Beautiful in that simple manner, that wonderfully simple way that only a person like her can really be. Anyway… must be off, my boy. I'm knackered."

Harry smiled and gave him another short hug. "No problem Xeno. See you on Saturday, alright?"

"Aye… see you then." Xenophilius apparated away with a soft _crack, _leaving Harry in the living room alone. Still smiling, he went to the kitchen and poured himself a small glass of Firewhisky, about to take the first sip when he heard a voice.

"Penny for your thoughts Harry Potter." Luna said from the doorway, leaning against it. Still in her jumper, she'd donned plain pyjama pants and those tacky-yet-comfy pink bunny slippers, making Harry chuckle.

"Ah… nothing much. Just about to have one last drink for the night." He grabbed another glass and poured one out for Luna. "Care to join me sweets?"

She nodded and walked up to take the glass, not before planting a kiss on his cheek. "I think I shall. I love you, you know."

Harry felt a blush fill his cheeks, and he put his arms around Luna, kissing the top of her head and smiling wider when he heard that happy little squeak he was so fond of. "Love you too. How was today?"

"Feckin' magical. Absolutely feckin' magical. Quite a good job on the nut roast, it wasn't anywhere near as dry as some people do it."

"Had to make sure it was perfect though, didn't I?"

"You did a good job, a very good job. As far as first Christmases go, my first Christmas with you was wonderful." She raised her glass up and _clinked_ it to Harry's. "Here's to as many as we can possibly manage; the first of many, if you will."

"The first of many." Harry returned her toast, and downed his firewhisky, wincing at the bitter burning sensation in his throat, watching Luna smoothly down hers as if it was water. "How on earth can you do that?"

"You forgot I'm Irish, didn't you?" She grinned, and set her glass down to pull Harry into a kiss, which he returned without a second thought. If Christmas would like this every year from now… he couldn't bloody wait for the next one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: So ends... Don't Let the Bells End! This was a lovely fic to write, and I've had a great time just detailed the first Christmas season that Harry and Luna get to spend together. Many thanks to you all for reading, and many thanks to the various people on the /r/hpfanfiction discord server who gave wonderful and constructive feedback on my stuff - particularly to coco oil shots for some beta-reading. Hope you all have a lovely day!


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